Discipleship: Day 8
Proverbs 23:7 for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. "Eat and drink!'' he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
The thought life is the beginning of victory or the beginning of defeat. Much is said in God's Word about our thoughts and what we do with them. You are not going to be victorious if you are always walking in a defeated attitude. You will not even fight because you see yourself as having already lost the battle, but it doesn’t have to be this way. God has a better way for His children. In fact, He has already set the example for us in His thoughts toward us.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
If God will not think bad or evil thoughts toward us, who are we to think bad or negative thoughts toward ourselves? We shouldn’t. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. As you think in your heart so you are. That is a pretty sobering thought isn’t it? What are your thoughts?
Many would say I can’t help what I think. God's Word says yes you can, therefore you can, but there are some steps we all must take.
Your thought life is sort of like driving a car; you have a steering wheel that controls the direction of the car. If you turn it to the right it will go right and if you turn it left it goes left. That is such an obvious statement that it sounds silly, however the same principle applies to our Christian life. Many believers ignore this very simple principle of God’s Word. Do you think anybody just went into a bank one day and robbed it without premeditation?
I don’t think so. He would have first put much thought into what he was going to do. You have the choice to turn yourself over to these kinds of thoughts. They don’t just happen without your permission. Do you think someone would have an adulterous affair with absolutely no thought about it first, no again? As a man thinks in his heart so he is. You begin steering your mind into an unlawful U-turn before you actually turn the wheel don’t you? If you put enough thought into it, you most likely eventually will do it. Change your thoughts!
We can turn our mind into the things that pertain to life and Godliness. The other side of the coin so to speak is that we can turn our minds into the things of God. God has given us very powerful weapons to help us control our thoughts and in turn fulfill or prove God's Word true.
2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5. casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
- and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Thoughts can become strongholds or they can be the vehicles we steer to the obedience of Christ. Cast down these worldly thoughts and replace them with God's thoughts.
Confession:
I choose to think God’s thoughts, I choose to think in line with His Word.